A day of furious fax activity between Kolkata and London ended with neither side — the BCCI and India’s top cricketers — closer to a decision on whether the latter would play in Colombo. Both sides showed a willingness to take a step back but it was clear some more concessions would have to be made before the ICC, the third point in the triangle, would be impressed. The process began in the afternoon, when Indian players wrote a letter to BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya saying they ‘‘could consider’’ signing the International Cricket Council contracts for Champions Trophy, if two clauses — no advertisements for rival sponsors of ICC partners during and a month after the tournament and the right to six-month imaging — were deleted from the contracts. South Africans refuse to sign JOHANNESBURG: South African cricketers today refused to sign the controversial ICC contract for Champions Trophy after their talks with the United Cricket Board officials failed. The chief executive officer of the South African Cricketers Association, Tony Irish, said in a media interview here that the players demands were the same as those of players in India who have consistently refused to sign the contract. "The players want to play in the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka without being bound by any ICC contracts," Irish said. The South African cricketers had earlier agreed to sign the terms but later asked for another round of discussions with UCB. Dalmiya replied late in the evening, saying he could do little about the first clause. However, he added: ‘‘I intend to speak to the ICC to ensure that none of the Indian players are called upon for imaging. This would be the simplest way to avoid problems either for the Indian players or for the ICC. But you have to sign on the contracts for me to request ICC for this.’’ If Dalmiya is able to persuade the ICC to relent on the imaging clause — the players are said to have been more worried about this — there is a strong possibility of the Indian team going to Sri Lanka for the September 12-30 tournament. Otherwise, Dalmiya’s legacy could prove to be his own undoing, and India will be forced to send a B-team to the Mini-World Cup. It is apparent that most of the personal sponsors of the players were unwilling to let them be exploited through the imaging clause. This clause gives the ICC’s partner sponsors the right to use images or clips of any of the players playing in the Champions Trophy for endorsement of their own products. It has the potential to lead to absurd situations: images of Sachin Tendulkar, who endorses Fiat, could be used by rival car compnay Toyota, Rahul Dravid’s (Samsung) by LG, Virender Sehwag’s (Coca Cola) by Pepsi. The ICC, meanwhile, will prefer to watch from the sidelines. Brendan McClements, their corporate manager, made it clear that "ICC will make a comment only after speaking to the BCCI on the status of its negotiations with its players. Any comment will be inappropriate at this time." Speaking to The Indian Express from London, the Indian team manager Ranga Reddy said: "Now that Dalmiya has sought to clear the apprehensions of our players, there is every reason for the team to sign on the contracts. They will have a meeting soon where they will discuss Dalmiya’s offer and we should know by tomorrow morning whether they sign or not.’’ Time is still not a "very big factor" — so says the BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah — and this represents the best bet yet for Dalmiya and Co to wriggle out of a tight situation. "The players must realise our position vis-a-vis the ICC and its contracts," Shah said, "We can’t change or amend any of the clauses on our own. Still Dalmiya is very much hopeful of using his skills to get relaxation on some clauses, so it’s for the players to compromise a bit too." Even though the BCCI hasn’t given up hope of getting these players to agree to the contracts, a source said, there could be a Plan C too — Plan B is of course sending a second-string side to the Champions Trophy. ‘‘We could announce the team, with all the top players in it, and then ask each one of the players individually whether he would go. I am sure, only three or four players will be resenting the ICC contracts, the junior players would secretly be wanting to go and play in Sri Lanka’’, he said.
